Mihir Patkar

If you are on a Windows laptop, you might want to shut your Chrome and use Firefox or Internet Explorer in case you need to conserve juice. Chrome has a core problem that causes it to consume more battery than other browsers, Forbes says.

The root cause here is something called the "system clock tick rate," which is responsible for how often the CPU wakes up to. By default, Chrome sets that to 1.000ms, while Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox are at Microsoft's recommended recommended setting of 15.625ms. Naturally, Chrome's rate affects battery significantly. Forbes writes:

In fact, at 1.000ms the processor is waking 1000 times per second. The default, of 15.625ms means the processor wakes just 64 times per second to check on events that need attention. Microsoft itself says that tick rates of 1.000ms might increase power consumption by "as much as 25 per cent."

This problem doesn't exist on Mac and Linux because their tick rate system is different. Web browser battery usage tests in the past have showed that Internet Explorer is best and Chrome in particular is a power-hog.